It’s like déjà vu all over again… First, the positive…congratulations on your son making JV; no shame in that as an underclassmen. As a strong club player, I would encourage your son to take this opportunity be a leader on the field and to try and help out the non-club players, which I assume there will be more than a few… As for the rest, it’s like I could have wrote this same post 2 years ago, and maybe I did… I definitely sympathize with all the feelings/concerns that are spinning though your head right now… Just a few more days until my son’s team makes placement decisions…still more pessimistic then optimistic, at this point; trying to brace myself for the worst…he won’t decline a JV spot, but…it will be heartbreaking….
Congratulations to your son. There are bad school coaches just like there are bad club coaches. Having freshmen make V while juniors make JV is not unusual or in anyway "wrong". Whereas the goal for club is (should be) personal development, the goal for HS is "win". Coaches need to make decisions on who they think will help them win. As far as the other club players making V and your son JV, keep in mind the coach probably hasn't seen them in games like you have. And, just because a player is named to JV at the start of the season doesn't mean they won't be V by the end of the year. Last year, DS and another freshman not only made Varsity, but were starters while there were juniors playing JV. DS and his teammate are both club players. This year (DS is now sophomore), two freshman (also club players, one an 05) made varsity (one as a starter), while some juniors were named to JV. Two of those juniors quit the team (one for medical reasons). School ball for DS is about "fun". Yes, he wants to compete and win, but he sees it as being able to play with friends, represent his school, and stay in shape during the club off season. Don't put a lot of concern on HS. If it's like around here, it only lasts ~2 months.
This is true. And also true that the non-club players I've mostly not seen yet. I'm relying on the assessments I hear from my son and a few of his teammates. I have no problem with him making JV. I'm sure he'd rather have made the varsity. But if he had, I doubt he would have played much, certainly not initially -- the team has some talent. I wrote that post last night after hearing from him, and from other parents, some of whose kids will be finished with soccer now (the kids I mentioned have all either quit club soccer or almost certainly will now). I should have resisted the urge to vent, and I'll try to follow my own advice to my son and give it a chance. And, as you say, HS soccer is late August through October (plus those summer practices). And Wulf, good luck to your son. I hope he lands well.
Absolutely no problem with venting. IMO, it helps to hear from others how they have handled the same issues. If my post came across as harsh or that I thought you (or your son) did anything wrong, I apologize. I was just trying to give another viewpoint. Good luck on the season!
No offense taken. Happy to get the feedback. I was just realizing as I read my post that I was doing precisely what I've been telling my son to avoid. And thanks! And there's always other soccer. He'll guest play with an 05 boys team this weekend that's a preseason scrimmage opponent for a community college women's team. I'm curious to see what that looks like.
Slightly related... When I picked DS up from practice last night, the coach told me another player had quit. He was a sophomore on Varsity. We've had one regular season game so far and he was apparently upset he didn't get enough playing time. He doesn't play any club ball and I don't believe he's even in rec. So the only soccer he gets is the HS season (he played JV last year with a few minutes on Varsity). Yes, two freshmen got more playing time than him. But they both play on (and I believe are starters) for their club teams which regularly challenge for the state title. Coach said when he texted the players dad, the dad's response was simply "it's not fair".
In some programs the last 2-3 guys in varsity are not better than the top 11 on JV. If a coach knows he needs 18 guys and only 14 will play then the last few guys are there only in case of emergency. For instance, the second best keeper often starts every JV game and the V backup is the third guy, who will likely not play. Coach can change that rotation dependent upon injuries and opponents but any player who makes the end of the varsity bench should suspect they aren’t really the 15th best player in the program.
Watching the HS team my son is now on a few times last fall (friends have older kids in the program), I saw something similar among the keepers. The second-best keeper floated between JV and varsity, starting for the former. And a younger field player or two seemed to split time between the two. Knowing now he won't be a varsity player this fall (and, I think, coming to grips with the notion that, even if he did make that roster, he probably wouldn't play much), I think that's what my son is working for -- time on both teams. We'll see. Re Sam Gordon's comment, there were a handful of juniors on my son's team who were given JV spots, and several opted to quit rather than take them (and most are club players or at least had a number of years of club experience, albeit in most cases with B teams).
That is a bummer...quitting because not on varsity as junior could be an example of what many on this board lament...not playing due to the love of the game but due to expectations etc. In some programs it is understood that it is ultra competitive and you need to keep developing and working or you will get “layered”. Top private school programs attract elite players and it is hard to maintain a position unless you are constantly working.
My son is a junior who is on the bubble to make varsity…but he won’t quite if he doesn’t; His love the game is stronger than that… In our case, it’s not because he’s necessarily un-developed or not working hard in the off-season, but more so because the somewhat usually high number of Seniors this year and our programs/coaches decision not cut any of them, regardless of their skill level…not the only factor at play, but a big one…when 13 Seniors are guaranteed a spot, with 3-4 probably shouldn’t be, things start to get tight pretty quick…
This brings up an interesting question... how many are on your V & JV roster? We have 18 on V right now, but coach was trying to get it to 20. We have 20 on JV. We have unlimited subs (I guess that's an NFHS rule)... a lot different than club ball where you get 7 subs/half and no re-entry.
Rosters aren’t set yet…currently 42 kids overall. Last year they carried 22 on V and maybe 20 on JV… I’ve looked and looked, but I can’t seem to find the HS roster size limit; I know there has to be one…I thinking maybe 24? If they stick with 22 my kid and a couple of other Juniors are definitely on the bubble (imo)….if they can or do carry 24, I think he’ll be fine….that’s how tight the margins are…
There's likely some truth to that -- desire to play a varsity sport, any sport, over desire to play soccer. One of the kids is a good runner (and the one who probably likes soccer the most) so he opted for cross country, where he has an outside shot at making a state meet by the time he leaves high school. I don't blame him. Another factor in this case -- for better or worse -- is the coach's decision to put several freshmen on the varsity. I suspect there were some hard feelings over that.
Similar numbers here -- 38-40 total kids in a high school of maybe 1,400. That's down from just over 60 at the beginning of tryouts. As someone who grew up deep in football country, it's interesting to me that as many kids go out for soccer here as football (a handful of parents said that last year some of the bigger soccer kids received summer phone calls from football coaches asking them to think about a switch if they were cut). Not sure how playing time will be doled out, or if there will be a difference in how that works on the JV vs varsity (I'm guessing varsity playing time will be based much more on performance and some kids may not play much).
Quick update: My son made varsity…3 other Juniors did not…1 was never in the running (HS soccer is nothing more than a college application check mark), 1 I didn’t know (but my son is shocked that he didn’t making it), 1 that’s has being playing with my son since pre-K rec, so I know the family pretty well…he’s been playing at a different lower level club then my son the past few years, but I am sadden he didn’t make it….
Good news, Wulf. I hope he has a great fall. And yeah, it's proving tough watching kids you know get cut, or never make varsity. My wife and I were both relieved that all of the handful of players my son's age in our neighborhood at least made the JV.
An update: What do I know? My son now appears to his JV team's primary holding midfielder and loving life. He doesn't have too many illusions about the quality of the soccer compared to club, but he's enjoying it. Maybe there's a lesson for dad here ...
I found HS soccer allowed some of the club players to have an alter ego. One year my RB son was the leading scorer as a striker for his HS team. He knew it wouldn’t carry over but he enjoyed the few months with a new identity. I think it provides some leadership opportunities and a chance to break up the routine of “the club life”.